I stumbled on a listing for a "Rare Former Northern Pacific "North Coast Limited" Observation Car" on Sterling Rail today. Is this former NP 391 "Arlington Club?" I searched the archives of this site (found nothing) and the rest of the internet and only found one source saying it was stored unserviceable (in poor condition) somewhere in Minneapolis (which matches the condition of the car). I wonder where this one has been hiding for all these years?

Sterling Rail Listing:
http://sterlingrail.com/classifieds/cla ... X7nJzBq4zI

Source:
http://www.massbayrre.org/Gallery201112/PWCT1120.htm

This car is common knowledge amongst PV owners and passenger car enthusiasts. It has been for sale for at least 10 years, and maybe 15. The price has always been way, way too high. I see the price now has come back to earth a bit, but it is still too high for a car with incorrect trucks, and no underbody equipment to speak of.

While the NP obs cars are of course classics, as most (all?) round end cars are, they do suffer from the incurable defect of having 4 bedrooms with open toilets. Also, we are seeing very, very few car owners buying cars like this anymore that need essentially everything rebuilt in order to be made operational. Way too much time and money involved. There are too many PV's for sale that can be had fairly cheap that have already had all the "heavy lifting" done. They can be bought for .25 or .35 cents on the dollar for what the seller has into the car. And 99% of PV owners do not care about the heritage of a car, or whether it has any original RR fabric left inside. They will run a bulldozer thru the interior anyway, and turn it into a glorified RV.

Here's the reason for the missing trucks and underfloor gear. The first owner after the NP wanted it for a beauty parlor. The next owner kept in a warehouse in Minneapolis for many years.

"Here's the reason for the missing trucks and underfloor gear. The first owner after the NP wanted it for a beauty parlor. The next owner kept in a warehouse in Minneapolis for many years."

Yes, it is a great story that the car has survived that initial effort to convert it into a stationary business. It would be really good for it to be saved again if the right person came along to buy it today.

Note these 6 cars have a very high survival rate, as the other 5 have all found more or less good homes over the last 50 years since retirement by NP/CB&Q and all survive with more or less intact interiors.

Sounds like a candidate for restoration to a museum static display if the owner gets real about the value of it.

Nystrom trucks?

"Nystrom trucks?"

No, conventional GSI outside swing hanger disk brake trucks. As noted, they're not correct for the car as-built, but the car owner got them off a former NP baggage car he had sitting around.